Vintage Mondays

I wear vintage most days in any case, but it’s nice to have an extra special reason to really pull the vintage gems out of the bag. If you need more of a reason to don your granny’s cape or your charity shop kimono, wearing vintage is also good for the environment by virtue of the fact that it constitutes clothing recycling. I’m a vintage addict, so I don’t need reason, but it’s always nice to think that their is an environmental dimension to one’s day-to-day dalliances.

My outfit for vintage Monday combined a few of my favourites. The dappled perma pleat dress with the geometric motif was bought when I was about 18 in Port Alfred of all places. It was during a wild girl’s weekend at university and, as always when in strange little towns, I dragged my friends to the local second hand store. It was originally floor length, but I thought I’d get more out of it as a mini. In retrospect, it may have been quite dramatic long, but there is no use crying over shorn hemlines.

I paired it with my absolute favourite black velvet smock-style coat, which has a cream quilted lining and a chubby velvet covered button at the neck. One of my favourite finds of all time, it was a Knysna buy. I also wore my mom’s pendant from the 80’s, which once contained perfume, but now rattles reassuringly when I walk. Black tights, pink lips and my new Pringle Chelsea’s added some Alison Mosshart edge.

Follow Marie Claire onTwitter for Vintage Mondays updates, or take a look at Eulogi Rheeder’s new Oldschool is Coolblog, a personal quest to wear vintage every day for a year.

Haul out those vintage pieces and wear them with style next Monday! I am going to make a concerted effort to post my Vintage Monday experiments every week, so keep reading.